Music
Asheba
Asheba is an engaging musical storyteller who specializes in family entertainment. Born on the Caribbean island of Trinidad, he was influenced by its spectacular festival, Carnival and the folkloric oral tradition, calypso. Today, he is a renowned world musician who playfully blends reggae, calypso, neo-folk and more. He has worked as a freelance musician in New York, Las Vegas, and now California. When Asheba moved to Oakland in 1999, he began performing family concerts focusing on young audiences, particularly preschoolers. Asheba performs regularly in Oakland at Children’s Fairyland, Museum of Children’s Art, La Pena and Ashkenaz.
Asheba’s first children’s CD, Go Itsy: Music for Kids Caribbean Style, was produced in 2002 and won the 2005 NAPPA Gold Award. Next he produced No More Monkeys: Children’s Songs by Asheba (2004). His songs can be found on Putumayo Kids’ compilation CDs (Little Anancy on Caribbean Playground, 2004; Reggae Lullaby on Reggae Playground, 2005). Asheba also headlined the national Putumayo Kids’ Reggae Playground tour.
Program Offered: Youth in Arts Presents Assembly
Kim Atkinson
Kim has worked as a professional percussionist with master musicians and dancers from Africa, the Caribbean and Brazil since 1976. He has performed at venues including the San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival, Brazilian Grand Carnaval Balls, Stern Grove Summer Music Festival and Harrah's Club in Reno, Nevada. In 1996, Kim was honored to work with world class percussionists Giovanni Hidalgo and Zakir Hussein in recording the music for the opening ceremonies of the 100th Olympics. In September 2004, Kim facilitated and performed with Micky Hart's "Planet Drum" holding the groove for over 4000 other drummers at the annual Earthdance Celebration in Northern California.
Kim has released instructional DVDs on Afro Cuban drumming, on the key rhythm in Afro Latin music, and CDs covering a basic repertoire of African Diaspora drumming. His latest CD "Grooves to Live In" is a collection of his compositions and arrangements for Brazilian Bateria.
Kim’s teaching experience began in 1975 with an African Music Workshop at Sonoma State College, Rhonert Park, California. Since that time he has taught nation wide, helping students of all ages, backgrounds and skill levels gain facility with percussion and greater appreciation of the rich cultural heritage supporting it. Kim's work with children is ongoing. He has worked with Orff music students and teachers, numerous Kindergarten and Preschool groups, Grammar and Middle school classes, Kids at Risk, High school and University students, as well as special needs individuals.
Program Offered: World Percussion
Annette Bauer
Annette holds her MA in music from UC Santa Cruz. She has studied North Indian Classical Music with the Ali Akbar College of Music in San Rafael, and in Basel, Switzerland. She is also trained in Orff Schulwerk. She has been teaching music to children as young as two, through college students for the last seven years. Annette and her professional music group Canconier has released several albums of medieval music.
Annette enchants students with her singing and playing of a wide range of traditional instruments that many of us have never seen or heard.
Programs Offered: Workshops in Medieval Music, Youth in Arts Presents Assembly
Gideon Mlungisi Bendile
Gideon Bendile was born in the southwestern township (Soweto) of Johannesburg, South Africa, where he first began his career performing in local musical shows and traveling around South Africa. In 1974, he was invited to join a hit musical show from South Africa called Ipi Intombi, which traveled extensively - including Paris, London, New York on Broadway, Scandinavia, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and the Far East. In 1975, Ipi Intombi won Best Foreign Musical in the Song of Europe Awards and was performed for the Queen of England, ending up with a long run in Las Vegas. While in Las Vegas, having formed a group called Amazulu, Gideon was interviewed by Dinah Shore, toured with Redd Fox, appeared with Sammy Davis Jr. and Gregory Hines, performed for the Jerry Lee Lewis Telethon, and was featured as a guest artist with Siegfried and Roy.
In Northern California he formed the band Zulu Spear, performing both nationally and internationally. He worked with the George Coates Performance Works in San Francisco, and with The Africans are Coming in Oakland. Funded by the CAC as an Artist in Residence with the Arts in Education program, he often works with his daughter Ayanda.
Program Offered: Youth in Arts Presents Assembly
Rhonda Benin
Rhonda performs and teaches singing and rhythm to school children throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. As an artist and an educator, Rhonda works with classroom teachers, as well as performing for school assemblies. Rhonda leads the yearly Cal Performances School Time Program, “The Power of Song” for classroom teachers in more than 25 classrooms yearly.
A Los Angeles native, Rhonda was awarded the 2009 Bay Area Blues Society’s Vocalist of the Year. In 1990 vocalist Linda Tillery invited Rhonda to join an experimental group called the Cultural Heritage Choir (CHC). Today, 19 years and 23 countries later, the CHC has become an internationally acclaimed vocal ensemble performing African American roots music. In 2006 Rhonda produced and released her first solo CD, A Matter of the Heart, a classic mix of jazz, blues and soul.
Program Offered: Singing, Music of the Civil War, Youth in Arts Presents Assembly
Rachael Bouch-Dimondstein
Rachael Bouch-Dimondstein has been teaching and performing as a percussionist for ten years. She is certified in Orff Schulwerk (an integrated method for teaching the creative arts to children). She has studied extensively in Cuba and Spain, and specializes in music and percussion from around the world. She has performed and lead workshops throughout the United States, as well as in Mexico, Cuba, Spain and Austria. Rachael plays many percussion instruments, including drum set, congas, timbales and cajón, and is well versed in various musical styles, including Funk, Jazz, Rock, Hip-Hop, Brazilian, African, Salsa/Son, Reggae and Flamenco. She is the founder and bandleader of Cuban Son/Latin jazz group "Luz", as well as co-director of flamenco fusion trio LoCura!.
In the classroom, Rachael combines the basics in music education with the excitement of playing music in a group. She helps her students to develop a fluency in the language of music by playing percussion instruments, and working rhythm into the body through drumming, singing, body percussion, and dance/movement. World music is a central theme in the curriculum, including songs in many languages and movement games from diverse cultures. For the younger students, songs and movement/rhythm games are used to introduce the children to the sounds and endless possibilities that exist in music. For the older, more experienced musicians, the focus is on facility on their instrument and learning how to play together in an ensemble. At any level, improvisation and composition are encouraged and facilitated in the classroom.
Programs Offered: Instrument Making, Singing, Music Basics, World Percussion
*Se Habla Español
Amadou Diawara
A native of Senegal, Amadou began his career with the world renowned West African Drum and Dance Company, BOUGARABOU. In 1992, artistic director Amadou M'baye Bagoura, invited Amadou to begin studying and performing with Bougarabou's African Ballet Company. He began his career in the United States as a West African drum and dance teacher in the summer of 2001. He taught drum and dance to youth campers (ages 5 -17) at Farm and Wilderness in Plymouth, Vermont. Amadou has taught classes for children, teens and adults in Cincinnati, Ohio, and at the YMCA in Vevay, Indiana. He also organized, directed and taught drum and dance workshops in Indiana and Ohio.
Amadou Diawara relocated to San Francisco, California in November of 2002. He has taught drum classes at the African American Cultural center, drummed for Alassane Kane's dance class at the San Francisco Dance Center and continues to share his music and culture with the bay area. Amadou is currently performing with Niancho Enyaley's West African Drum and Dance Company located in the Los Angeles area. In 2007, Mr.Diawara implemented an educational rhythm and movement/creative expression program to teach children in local school districts.
Amadou Diawara is energetic, genuine, and excited to share his culture! He believes drumming and dancing knows no boundaries. Amadou feels that the spirit of West African music is intriguing and connects all ages and ethnicities.
Programs Offered: West African Dance, West African Drumming, Youth in Arts Presents Assembly
Hannah Dworkin
Hannah holds a teaching credential and a bachelor’s in anthropology and dance from the University of California, Berkeley and has her master’s in music and music education from Columbia University. She has developed a performing arts program that integrates social studies and music arts into the performing arts curriculum at Foothill Elementary School in Pittsburg, CA. She also worked as the Art and Public Education Program Specialist at the East Bay Center for the Performing Arts, helping to administer a program to assist classroom teachers to integrate the performing arts into their classrooms.
Hannah is an accomplished vocalist and dancer. Her most recent performances have been the company Opera Non Troppo Company based in Berkeley, CA and with Barely Human Dance Theater, a modern and Buto based dance company in San Francisco, CA.
Hannah’s approach to teaching the performing arts is to create a strong classroom community while teaching the subject matter. Students develop skills as musicians, historians, and team members. They learn skills essential to the performing and writing of music, the context from which art forms are created, and how to work together to create a work of art.
Programs Offered: Creative Movement, Literacy Through Music, Music Basics, Storytelling Through Song, Singing, Music Theater
*Se Habla Español
Bryan Dyer
Bryan S. Dyer is a multi-talented musician who sings and also plays several instruments including bass guitar, percussion and piano; writes and arranges music, conducts choirs and groups, and has worked in television and radio. A veteran of some of the Bay Area's top vocal groups including Street Sounds, SoVoSo and Slammin, he also sings with Chelle and Friends, Rankin Scroo and Ginger, and R&B group, 510. His musical experiences have him taken around the globe including several trips throughout Europe, Japan, South Korea and Jamaica. Bryan's talents have landed him alongside such artists as Al Green, Bobby McFerrin, Michael McDonald of the Doobie Brothers, and Ladysmith Black Mambazo to name a few. Bryan teaches voice and Circle Singing to children of all ages.
Programs Offered: Singing Circles, Voice
Julie Egger
Julie holds a B.M. from Crane School of Music, NY, an M.A. in Expressive Therapy from Lesley College, Cambridge, MA, and an MA Certification from U Mass. Boston. Julie has also received her CA teaching credentials in Special Education-Learning and Music, and holds teaching credentials in New York and Massachusetts. She has taught music as well as special education to children in public and private schools and summer camps throughout the Bay Area.
Julie began playing the violin at the age of 7, performing in various ensembles, from classical, to jazz, to Klezmer to other forms of Jewish music and writing music. She has played violin and viola with JJam: A string trio performing improvisational music; Offbeat String Quartet; Fogbow Trio; and The Caledonia Quartet. As Co-Founder and President of the Board of KlezCalifornia, she has organized Klezmer workshops and concerts. Julie brings a spiritual sense to her playing. She has recorded with many other musicians and has recently produced a CD with her current band “The Red Hot Chachkas”.
Programs Offered: Klezmer Music and Yiddish Dance, Music Basics
Bronkar Lee
Growing up in Athens, Georgia, Bronkar's performance career began as a drummer, multi-instrumentalist, and singer. In 2001, he started his own program, taking music into schools in the form of "Bronkar's Self-Expressions." He taught and performed for kids of all ages and circumstances. In 2003, Bronkar discovered circus and travelled across the country to attend the San Francisco Circus Center, entering the world of theater, acrobatics, and juggling. Immediately after finishing the program he landed a full time gig with the Circus Monti, touring Switzerland as a beatboxer, drummer and actor. He's worked with such organizations as Velocity Circus, Earth Circus, and the San Francisco Ballet performing his act for audiences numbering thousands and teaching his skills to children and adults alike. In 2008 he performed his first own original show "Bronkar's Circus of Sound" showcasing all the talents he's honed in his 20+ years of experience.Programs Offered: Youth in Arts Presents Assembly, Circus of Sound, Beat Box
Miguel Martinez
Miguel was born in Chiapas, México, and holds degrees in Music Education and Transversal Flute from the University of Science and Art in Chiapas and La Universidad Veracruzana and is trained in Kodaly and Orff. Miguel is the director of local group CORAZÓN SUR, playing beautiful fusions of jazz, Cuban and Mexican Son and is the co-director of Balamcoatl, a collaborative project with the goal of diffusing the rich music and dance traditions of the indigenous people of México.
Programs Offered: Latin American Music, Music Basics, Youth in Arts Presents Assembly
*Se Habla Español
Ernesto Hernandez Olmos
Ernesto is a multi-talented artist, specializing in many cultural art forms of the pre-Columbian peoples of Meso-America including music, dance, storytelling, sculpture, painting and making traditional instruments out of wood and clay. Ernesto was born in Oaxaca, México, and received his degree in art at "La Escuela de Bellas Artes" of the University of Oaxaca, and is an accomplished muralist with many standing artworks around the Bay Area. Ernesto is founder and director of Xaguia Gura and co-director of Balamoatl, projects dedicated to the diffusion of indigenous Meso-American culture, music and dance.
Programs Offered: Cartonería, Maskmaking, Indigenous Music of Meso-America, Instrument Making, World Folk Art, YIA Presents Assembly
*Se Habla Español
Nina Pasquale
Nina has been teaching and performing music for 25 years. She attended San Francisco Conservatory of Music and San Francisco State University, where she studied music education, with an emphasis in early childhood. Nina has taught children privately, as well as in schools and community programs. In addition, she has developed and directed musicals for young children. Nina has her own unique style of teaching, which utilizes humor, rhythm games and two-part singing. Her knowledge of child development enables her to create an amazing and fun program for special needs children.
Programs Offered: Singing, Storytelling Through Song, Music Basics
Zack Pitt-Smith
Zack Pitt-Smith earned his degree in Ethnomusicology from Brown University. He teaches and performs in the Bay Area. He leads the Falso Baiano Choro Quartet and works with many jazz and Brazilian ensembles. Grupo Falso Baiano performs a blend of traditional Brazilian choro music with modern influences such as jazz, flamenco and samba. Choro is Brazil’s first national music, born in the cafés of Rio in the late 1800’s, and reflects the melding of African rhythms with a melodic and harmonic structure most closely resembling Baroque Classical music. GFB's unique exploration of choro spans nearly 100 years, including everything from traditional to contemporary classics, as well as original arrangements and jazz-influenced reinterpretations.
Zack currently teaches band and orchestra in Oakland Public Schools. Zach is committed to extending the reach of choro music, and has collaborated with the Pasadena Pops Orchestra and the “Around the World” Music Program, bringing choro music to students throughout California.
Program Offered: Youth in Arts Presents Assembly
*Se Habla Español
*Falo Português
William Rossel
A disciple of tabla maestro Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri of the Lucknow Gharana, William Rossel is a promising young artist and teacher in the field of North Indian music. Originally a student of Western classical vocal music, he began his training in Hindustani classical music over a decade ago under the tutelage of renowned sitarist Nalini Vinayak. His studies with Pt. Chaudhuri began in 2006 at the Ali Akbar College of Music in San Rafael and continued at the California Institute of the Arts where he earned a Masters degree in Tabla performance. At CalArts he deepened his studies of North Indian music theory under legendary sarod master, Ustad Aashish Khan of the Maihar Gharana.
William is an accomplished Tabla player, equally strong as a soloist and as an accompanist and has given numerous recitals and lecture demonstrations at the Ali Akbar College of Music, California Institute of the Arts, Pasadena City College, Florida State University and at private venues across the country.
In addition to his training in Indian music, William’s musical interests have led him to study Ugandan, Tanzanian, Ghanaian and Balinese music, the latter of which began in 2001 and included six months of conducting field research and receiving training under master musicians I Made Terip and I Putu Putrawan of the village of Munduk, Bali. He was a member of Sekar Jaya, a world-renowned gamelan ensemble based in the Bay Area, and played in their Gong Kebyar, Anklung, Joged and Jegog ensembles. Other teachers William has studied under include Randy Gloss, Andrew Grueschow, I Nyoman Wenten, Houman Pourmehdi, Alfred Ladzekpo, Damascus Kafumbe, Dr. Michael Bakan and Dr. Frank Gunderson.
William is a gifted teacher and has directed and composed for Tabla and North Indian music ensembles at the California Institute of the Arts Community Arts Partnership. He just moved back to San Rafael, where he teaches Tabla privately and in schools.
Programs Offered: North Indian (Hindustani) Percussion class a.k.a. Tabla Class, Survey of world music, Appreciation of South Asian Music, Found-object Percussion class, Vocal Percussion class, North/South Indian Rhythm Theory (Tabla), Western Music Tonal Theory, Early childhood music class/sing along.
Francy Vidal
Francy Vidal is an 8th generation Californiana with roots in Mexico and in Europe. A passionate student of Latin American culture and history, she has been immersed in traditional Andean music since the early 1970’s, bringing an informed and discerning ear to her interpretation of regional Andean musical styles. A gifted multi-instrumentalist, Ms. Vidal sings, plays, and instructs on a wide variety of native flutes, panpipes, drums, and the 10-string Peruvian mandolin.
Francy co-founded the touring ensemble Chaskinakuy with Edmond Badoux in 1985 with the purpose of introducing lesser known but equally important Andean musics and instruments to North American audiences. The group has been recognized by arts councils, cultural centers, educators, and book publishers for its contribution to the broader understanding of Latin America’s diverse musical legacy.
Programs Offered: A Musical Bridge to the Andes, Youth in Arts Presents Assembly (with Chaskinakuy)
*Se Habla EspañolAustin Willacy
Singer/songwriter Austin Willacy, hailed by critics for his "stunning, choir boy vocals" (San Francisco Examiner) and whose sound was dubbed the "music of tomorrow" by Rolling Stone’s Ben Fong-Torres, has done over 1500 shows with The House Jacks, anA Cappellapowerhouse with whom he tours internationally. Austin has also shared the stage with James Brown, Ray Charles, Jem, Amos Lee, Bonnie Raitt and L.L. Cool J. Austin has appeared on the House of Blues’ syndicated radio program, in Rolling Stone (alongside Bonnie Raitt, Jason Newsted and Tom Waits) and his music has appeared on “Road Rules”. “When The World Looks Away”, the lead single from Austin’s forthcoming album, 9 Impossible Proofs won the Reader’s Choice Contest on Jane Magazine’s website. Austin is the Director of ‘`Til Dawn, an award-winning teenA Cappella group that is a program of Youth in Arts.
